Mar

Travel Inspiration from the Sounds of the Sea

by Meredith Mullins on March 28, 2016

The sea organ in Zadar, Croatia, travel inspiration for music and nature lovers. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

The sea organ (Morske Orgulje) in Zadar, Croatia
© Meredith Mullins

The Haunting Sea Organ of Zadar, Croatia

Travel inspiration is born from many different sources. The power of nature. Layers of history. Beauty of land and sea. Discovery of new cultures. Freedom to wander. A feeling of community, wherever you are in the world.

The allure is irresistable.

And, if you are able to put all of those inspirations together, a truly memorable experience emerges. Such was the case for me with the sea organ in Zadar, Croatia. A convergence of “Oh, I See” moments.

Close to a Dream

A spontaneous visit to Croatia introduced me to the rugged beauty of the Dalmatian coast, the friendliness of the locals, and, in many places, the luxury of being the only traveler in town (an off-season advantage).

Zlatni Rat beach in Croatia, travel inspiration for beach and nature lovers. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Croatia’s unspoiled coastline
© Meredith Mullins

I was visiting Split—the second largest city in Croatia, with a rich history dating back to the 4th century BC— when someone mentioned the Zadar sea organ. I had read about this amazing architectural creation on the Croatian coast. It had won several urban design awards after its installation in 2005 and, even more recently, had been rediscovered in the blogosphere.

From the moment I first learned of it, I knew I wanted to go there in person. Music and nature are two powerful forces in my life.

I saw how close I was to Zadar—a breathtaking three-hour coastal bus ride away. I was ready to make a pilgrimage for the symphony of the sea.

Nature Speaks

The sea is never silent. It always has something to say. From gentle lapping rhythms on a calm day to thunderous crashing during a storm. It is scripted by the forces of nature.

It was these sounds of the sea that inspired Croatian architect Nikola Bašić. He was considering projects to rebuild Zadar—a city that had thrived for centuries but had been devastated in WWII.

Roman column in Zadar, Croatia, fragments that provide travel inspiration of layers of history. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Many layers of history in Zadar
© Meredith Mullins

Much of the city had been rebuilt after the war, using fragments of the Roman ruins in the construction of new buildings. But the open space where the city meets an expanse of the Adriatic Sea and offers vistas of the nearby archipelago had been neglected. It was just a concrete sea wall.

Bašić wanted that promontory into the sea to be something special. Because he grew up on an island near Zadar, the communion that occurs when water meets land was a part of him.

“The line between sea and land has always been resolved by sound,” he said. It was this premise that led him to think about a creative solution to the Zadar seafront.

Sea organ stairs in Zadar, Croatia, travel inspiration for music and nature lovers. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

A connection with the sea
© Meredith Mullins

A Stairway into the Adriatic

Bašić first wanted to be sure his creation provided access to the sea, so he designed a staircase that descends to the water.

Depending on the tides, wind, and weather, the steps vary in the way the water flows over them. You can stop on a step to stay dry, or you can slide into the sea for a swim.

“I wanted to make people come into contact with the sea,” Bašić explained. “I wanted to invite them to communicate with nature.”

The Creative Improv of Wave and Wind

Bašić then decided to add music and worked with a hydraulic engineer, acoustic engineer, and an organ master to create an instrument within the steps—the first sea organ in the world.

The organ is a series of 35 tubes of different diameters. Air is pushed by the waves into the tubes and then into a horizontal corridor. The music breathes through holes in the upper sidewalk.

Holes in the sidewalk where the music is channeled in the sea organ of Zadar, Croatia, travel inspiration for music and nature lovers. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

The sea organ music is channeled up through the holes in the sidewalk.
© Meredith Mullins

The organ is tuned so that it is similar to traditional Dalmatian male singing groups with roots in the Middle Ages. It sounds ancient and extraterrestrial at the same time.

The notes are completely unpredictable (an ever changing Playlist), because nature is composing in the moment. The wind and the waves choose the notes. Even a passing boat can have influence on the composition.

Wind surfer near the Riva in Zadar, Croatia, travel inspiration for travelers of all ages. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Can a wind surfer and a cyclist influence the sea organ’s sounds? You’ll have to listen.
© Meredith Mullins

A Sense of Community

Since the installation of the sea organ, life in Zadar has changed. The city has become a significant traveler destination as word of the sea organ spread globally.

Children listen to the sea organ in Zadar, Croatia, travel inspiration for all ages. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

A school group visits the sea organ and listens in the magical sidewalk holes for the songs of the sea.
© Meredith Mullins

More important was the renewed sense of community. Bašić proudly notes, “With the sea organ, the Nova Riva (new seafront walkway) has literally changed its character and become the scene of a new urban sociability.” It draws people in.

Sun Salutation by architect Bašić in Zadar, Croatia, travel inspiration for worldwide travelers. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

The Sun Salutation on the Riva near the sea organ
© Meredith Mullins

And with the subsequent addition of Bašić’s Sun Salutation, an installation that uses solar energy to charge the panels of a large circular pool of color and light, the transition from day to night casts a magical spell.

Nikola Bašić posing on the Sun Salutation in Zadar, Croatis, travel inspiration for worldwide visitors. (Image courtesy of Marina Projekt.)

Croatian architect Nikola Bašić, lit by the solar energy of his Sun Salutation
Image courtesy of Marina Projekt

A Perfect Recipe for Inspiration

Zadar is the ultimate in travel inspiration. You can walk through visible layers of history. You feel the power of nature even in an urban setting. You instantly feel a part of the community. And the mysterious music of the sea organ makes you want to sit there forever.

Panorama of the sea organ in Zadar, Croatia, travel inspiration for music and nature lovers. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

A peaceful panorama
© Meredith Mullins

After many mesmerizing hours staring at the sparkling water listening to the haunting songs of the sea, I was in a place of reverence. I found it difficult to leave. But I know I will return.

Listen …

If video does not display, watch it here.

Thank you to TravelontheDollar for the YouTube video.

For more information on Bašić’s design of the sea organ, click here.

For more information on Zadar, Croatia, click here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 6 Comments

Croatia/The World's Music

Mar

The Sociable Solo Traveler

by Joyce McGreevy on March 22, 2016

A volunteer greeter and visitors in Brisbane, Australia, reflect the art of solo travel at its most sociable. Image © Brisbane Marketing

Did you know that you have friends in Australia? Thanks to volunteers like the Brisbane Greeters, visitors can count on a warm welcome in cities around the world.
© Brisbane Marketing

The Singular Art of Solo Travel Connections

“But don’t you hate being all alone?” That question—intoned with tragicomic emphasis—is one that solo travelers hear a lot. In fact, when it comes to the art of travel, soloists have plenty of company.

According to a recent study, solo travel has more than doubled among first-time travelers since 2013. Half are Millennials, while Boomers who’d rather pack and roam than pine at home make up another 18 percent. That’s a two-percentage point increase from 2013, and it’s expected to soar like a hypersonic jet over the next several years.

In "Triste," Raffaele Faccioli's art of travel portrays a sad and lonely traveler, reflecting some people's sad view of solo travelers.

Vintage art of travel can reflect a sad stereotype of the solo traveler.

From “Me Time” to “We Time”

One obvious benefit of traveling solo is the freedom. It’s you who decides whether to spend all day at the British Museum, memorizing every pot and placard, or to laze about reading Keats at Hampstead Heath.

Straight up tired of the Leaning Tower of Pisa? Had an eyeful of the Eiffel? There’s no one to shame you for detouring to a comic-book convention or following your nose to the nearest patisserie for, um, research purposes.

But there’s another, surprising benefit to solo travel—it offers excellent opportunities for socializing. You just have to know where to look.

Places to Go, People to See

Consider the popularity of London Cultureseekers with solo travelers.

Three times a week, individuals ranging in age from 20 to 80 chip in a few quid to visit museums, art galleries, stately homes, and more. There are plays, concerts, history talks, and guided walks, often to venues as little known to non-locals as they are marvelous to explore.

London's British Museum with antiquities reflects the art of solo travel and exploration. Image © Joyce McGreevy

The British Museum is inviting whether you prefer
to mingle or to go single .
© Joyce McGreevy

Members hail from around the world and on any given day most are meeting for the first time, thanks to organizer Robert Coleman. He’s the chap with the clipboard who greets you at the day’s designated gathering spot.

Newcomers typically start off by staying as close to Robert as timorous baby goslings to a gander. Soon they realize it’s safe to wade in and make introductions.

“The group is very friendly,” says Robert. “After events, we always head to a local pub or cafe to chat.”

An Essex man who moved to London, he went searching for a group that shared his passion for the city. When he couldn’t find one, he started his own. That was ten years ago. Today, membership of London Cultureseekers tops 21,000.

Robert Coleman and other London Cultureseekers meet Charles Spencer, the <br/> 9th Earl Spencer, at Althorp, a moment that captures the art of solo travel surprise and sociability. Image © Robert Coleman/ London Cultureseekers

Solo travel can be royally sociable. At Althorp, Robert Coleman (3rd from left) and friends
meet the 9th Earl Spencer (center), brother of the late Princess Diana.
© Robert Coleman/ London Cultureseekers

Global Meet and Greets

Oh, I see: solo travel can be a way to engage more fully with others. Suppose, however, you’ve landed in a city where you don’t know a soul?

Solo travelers from Switzerland, Spain, Germany, and Slovakia meet in Vienna, Austria through a volunteer greeter network that reflects the art of solo travel today. Image @ Vienna Greeters

Take walks, make friends. In Vienna, Austria, volunteer greeter Ulli (in red) welcomes
visitors from Switzerland, Spain, Germany, and Slovakia.
©Vienna Greeters

Say hello to a local. From Adelaide to Zagreb, more than 100 cities now offer official greeter programs. These are free public services that match visitors with city-savvy residents.

For instance, Chicago Greeter has 200 volunteers and can customize a visit for you based on your language, choice of neighborhood, and interest. The key to this and other global city groups is to book several days in advance.

Volunteers for Chicago Greeter help a newcomer get oriented, a reflection of the art of solo travel hospitality. Image © Chicago Greeter

Connect with community worldwide. In Chicago, greeters help newcomers navigate
public transportation for 25 neighborhoods, each with its own character, culture, and history.
© Chicago Greeter

Food for Thought, in Thoughtful Company

Now let’s talk solo sustenance. Taking cooking classes and joining dining groups are other ways to make friends across cultures.

Worried that gastronomical sprees mean astronomical fees? Inexpensive alternatives abound. Some classes and groups, like many posted on MeetUp, are volunteer run. Search by city and country, for everything from Copenhagen Vegans to the Singapore Supper Society.

At other international organizations, like Culinary Backstreets, costs are moderate. The focus is on “holding back globalized sameness” and giving travelers a sense of authentic culture and traditions.

Students at Cookistan, a culinary school in Istanbul, Turkey, celebrate the art of solo travel by sharing a meal they have prepared together. Image © Cookistan

There’s always room at the table for a sociable solo traveler, such as in Cookistan,
a Turkish culinary school for locals and visitors.
© Cookistan

Take Istanbul, where guides are required by law to complete a rigorous training process of several years. There, Ayşin Ekinci—guide, chef, and owner of Cookistan—offers classes that are budget-friendly and richly rewarding.

Starting with a history lesson on foot, Ayşin introduces you to traditional food producers in Kurtuluş, a Greek, Turkish, Kurdish, Jewish neighborhood. Then it’s back to Ayşin’s home, where you’re guided through the cooking of local dishes. Meanwhile, you’re getting acquainted with locals and visitors.

From Solo to Global: The Ultimate Travel Connection

It’s been said that we travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us. Likewise, those who travel the world alone soon discover that none of us need feel alone in the world. In the art of travel—including solo travel—each of us can contribute to making a more inclusive global portrait.

A volunteer Brisbane Greeter and U.S. visitors to the Brisbane Museum, Australia, reflect the art of solo travel at its most sociable. Image © Brisbane Marketing

A volunteer greeter welcomes U.S. visitors to the Museum of Brisbane, Australia.
©Brisbane Marketing

Wherever you’re going, find a volunteer greeter to welcome you here.

Learn more about London Cultureseekers, Culinary Backstreets, and Cookistan.

The 18th century portrait of a lone traveler is by Raffaele Faccioli (1845-1916) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Discuss solo travel ideas and destinations by joining the Solo Travel Society here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy 4 Comments

Art of Travel/Worldwide Sites

Mar

The Underwater Museums of Jason deCaires Taylor

by Eva Boynton on March 14, 2016

A woman snorkeling in the underwater museum of Jason deCaires Taylor that shows innovations of artist and ocean. (image © Jason deClaire Taylor).

Enter a world of blue, where sculptures function as art and habitat.
© Jason deCaires Taylor

Experience the Creative Partnership of Artist and Ocean

Under the blue line of the ocean’s surface is a world alive with movement. The environment is itself in constant motion; sunlight ripples across the scales of fish, while coral reef plants sway with the push and pull of the currents.

Often this world is forgotten by us land-dwellers, but not by sculptor and naturalist Jason deCaires Taylor. He has created, in the world’s first underwater museums, the perfect exhibit space for his larger-than-life sculptures.

His are museums that need no curator. The ocean does that job, constantly updating the exhibit and transforming the sculptures into a functioning artificial reef. Perhaps it is this partnership between artist and ocean that is the true innovation.

Sculpture in the underwater museum by Jason deCaires Taylor, showing innovations by artist and ocean. (Image © Jason deCaire's Taylor)

An Eye for New Terrain, A Voice for the Ocean’s Future

What makes a great art exhibit? Emotive lighting, hints of wonder, astonishment, awe, or a powerful backdrop? Taylor’s chosen space has them all.

Taylor constructed underwater museums first near Grenada and then off the coast of Cancún, Mexico, and the Bahamas. Later he moved to more underwater locations around the world from Indonesia to the Oslo Fjord in Norway. Taylor explains why he loves to work in the aquatic gallery space:

Being underwater is a deeply personal, liberating, and otherworld experience. Like many interactions with the natural world, submersion is both humbling and life-affirming.

A sculpture of a woman with coral growing from her sides in the underwater museum by Jason deCaires Taylor, showing innovations of artist and ocean. (image © Jason deCaires Taylor)

Reclamation, accentuated by dramatic lighting, purple Gorgonian sea fans, and a blue backdrop, reclaims the ocean as a precious place.
© Jason deClaires Taylor

Through his passion for diving, Taylor acquired an understanding of the sea’s territory, seeing it as a place to be revered and respected. Travelers who visit his museums sense, through his art installations, this feeling of deep respect for the oceans.

The sculptures, themselves, give voice to messages about the environment.

Sculptures of young people holding hands in a circle in the underwater museum off the coast of Grenada, an innovation by Jason deCaires Taylor. (image © Jason deCaires Taylor)

Vicissitudes, off the coast of Grenada, symbolizes the cycle of life and how we
are all affected by the circumstance of our surroundings.
© Jason deCaires Taylor

Sculptures of bankers with their heads in the sand in the underwater museum of Jason deCaires Taylor, showing innovations by artist and ocean. (image © Jason deCaires Taylor).

The Bankers, submerged near Cancún, communicates denial and resistance to environmental
crises caused by over-fishing, dredging, and careless tourism.
© Jason deCaires Taylor

Taylor’s underwater museums, however, are more than a message. They show that humans can, in turn, have a positive impact on nature.

Art that Takes Action

Although coral reefs inhabit only 1% of the ocean’s vastness, a quarter to a third of all marine species call them home. Coral reefs are fleeting and fragile, too. Coral and sea sponges can be swept away by a hurricane or a snorkeler’s careless hand. They are often over-visited and over-fished.

With this in mind, Taylor constructs his sculptures in a way that preserves and extends coral reefs.

A sculpture of a girl in a garden of coral in Jason deCaires Taylor's underwater museum, showing innovations by both artist and ocean. (Image © Jason deCaires Taylor)

He uses durable ph-neutral cement to form his artwork, texturing surfaces so that reef plants can attach. This encourages the expansion of the natural landscape, and results in living spaces for crustaceans and fish.

His underwater museums, then, serve as artificial reefs that relieve natural reefs from excessive tourism in destinations like Cancún, Mexico. When snorkelers and divers spend time visiting Taylor’s sculptures, the natural reefs have space and time to generate life.

Artist Jason deCaires Taylor scuba dives and plants coral in his sculptures in the underwater museum, showing innovations by artist and ocean. (image © Jason deCaires Taylor).

Taylor begins the rehabilitation process by planting coral in Man on Fire
near Isla Mujeres, Mexico.
© Jason deCaires Taylor

What started as “a small community” of sculptures off the coast of Cancún, grew into “an entire movement of people in defense of the sea.”

A school of fish swims around sculptures that have become an artificial reef in Jason deCaires Taylor's underwater museum, demonstrating the innovation of an underwater museum. (Image © Jason deClaires Taylor).

500 sculptures offer surfaces, nooks and crannies for marine life to develop.
Art and preservation go hand in hand in Silent Evolution.
© Jason deCaires Taylor

Through his sculptures, Taylor has provided an amazing gallery of art and a place for ocean life to flourish. Ocean and artist share the same goals: encouragement of life. They have a symbiotic relationship, benefiting one another with their artistic innovations.

Silent Innovation by the Sea

Without as much as a whisper, the ocean begins to change the sculptures. As nature flourishes, the artwork undergoes mind-blowing transformations. Taylor explains witnessing the change:

As soon as we submerge the sculptures, they are not ours anymore. . . . The sculptures—they belong to the sea. As new reefs form, a new world literally starts to evolve.

Two sculptures covered in plant growth in the underwater museum of Jason deCaires Taylor, showing innovation by both artist and ocean. (Image © Jason deCaires Taylor)

For Taylor, the innovation in his work really begins when nature takes over. The ocean paints with the most spectacular red algae, curving coral, and sponges.

A sculpture covered in sea sponges, coral, algae and a sea star in the underwater museum of Jason deCaires Taylor, showing innovations by both artist and ocean. (Image © Jason deCaires Taylor).

The transformation from studio to sea floor goes something like this:

A model's face, the sculpture of the model, and the sculpture transformed by the ocean after its installation in the underwater museum of Jason deCaires Taylor, showing innovation by both artist and ocean. (Image © Jason deCaires Taylor)

A recognizable figure becomes a sculpture and is then abstracted by sponges and algae.
Nature leaves her mark near Isla Mujeres, Cancún, Mexico.
© Jason deCaires Taylor

Jason deCaires Taylor’s work is a collaboration with the environment. Taylor lays down the foundation, and Nature forms positive mutations, achieving extraordinary appearances that only the ocean could conjure upon these man-made surfaces.

Oh, I See for Myself

I visited one of Taylor’s underwater museums off the coast of Cancún. As I swam from one sculpture to another, weaving around real reefs to visit the artificial ones, I saw first-hand how the sculptures change with time, how they become more a part of the sea with each passing day.

A view of the sculpture "Reclamation" in Jason deCaires Taylor's underwater, showing the innovations of both artist and ocean. (image © Eva Boynton).

I experienced the quiet underneath the ocean’s surface—a forgotten world that supports extraordinary life all the while. I became a part of Taylor’s artwork and mission, a traveler who entered his underwater museum out of curiosity and who left with a sense of responsibility to encourage life in Earth’s vast blue oceans.

—§—

Thank you, Jason, for your wonderful work and for sharing your photography. To see more images of Taylor’s work, check out his underwater sculptures. Dive deeper into Taylor’s underwater museum with this five minute video.

Comment on this post below.

Eva Boynton 6 Comments

Mexico/Nature Discovery/The World's Art & Design

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Monthly Archives: March 2016